Wolf Creek Analysis

I have decided to analyse the Micro-Elements of the thriller film called "Wolf Creek".

Mise-En-Scene

I watched a short clip from quite near the beginning of the film. At the beginning of this scene a group of 3 British travellers have broken down in the middle of the Australian out backs, when a local Australian man stops to help them. Throughout the clip it is night time so therefore it is pitch black, the only light is from the moon, car headlights or torches, it is all diegetic and realistic light. There is only enough light to see the characters faces and sometimes top halves of their bodies. You would expect a Thriller film to be set in mostly darkness as it is creepy and frightens the audience as they can not see everything that is happening around the characters.

The costumes that the characters are wearing are very ordinary and practical. The 3 travellers are all in wooly hats, jumpers or hoodies to keep warm as they are outdoors at night time. The strange man is in a shirt, jeans and a hat which is not very warm, this shows that he is a local and is more used to the climate they are in.

The film is set in the out backs of Australia. As this scene is set in darkness the audience see very little other than the characters which makes it quite mysterious. Things that they do see are roads, road signs, a full moon a car and a truck. The beginning of the clip shows the 3 travellers standing outside their broken down car and the strange man looking inside the bonnet to see what the problem is. He then offers to tow their car to his place not far from there, so the rest of the clip is of the 3 travellers sitting in their car being towed through the Australian out backs in darkness. During the journey not once do you see a close up of the strange man, the most you see is his truck and the silhouette of the man from the travellers point of view. There is a shot of a road sign with arrows pointing left but the man takes them in the opposite direction so the audience can tell that something isn't right. The characters are all close to eachother inside their car whilst the strange man is in the truck infront towing them. The fact that they are far appart from him shows you that the travellers don't know him very well.

Camera Angles/Shots

During this clip the camera doesn't stay still for long, it jumps between the characters a lot. Over the shoulder shots are used while the characters are talking and there is a mid shot of the strange man as he is playing around with the car. There are close ups of the insides/wires of the car, this suggests to the audience that there may be something dodgy going on and that instead of fixing the car he may be making it worse. There is a long shot of the full moon, again this could be to imply that strange things happen on a night with a full moon. There is a long shot of the vehicles driving into darkness which is creepy as the audience have no idea where the travellers are being taken. When there are shots inside the car the camera is very shakey to convey the bumpiness and movement the travellers are feeling on the journey, also makes you feel nervous like the characters and as if you are moving with them. There are a lot of close ups of the characters whilst inside the car so that the audience can see their worried and curious expressions.

Sound

At the beginning of the clip while the characters are outside their car you can hear buzzing insect/cricket noises as you would if you were in Australia at night time. When they are in the car you can hear the realistic sound of the car engine as if you would if you were in the car yourself. Then as the journey gets going the music kicks in, it is quite creepy instrumental music, consisting of violins and string instruments. This music changes slightly as a very low and slow beat comes in which creates tension. This music keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and builds suspense as you can tell something bad is going to happen. This is a typical convention of a Thriller film.